DaimlerChrysler Confirms Hyundai Spinoff

DaimlerChrysler has decided to sell its 10.5 percent stake in South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., The Associated Press reports.

The two automakers will "realign the alliance in order to reflect more realistically current market conditions," the companies said in a joint statement.

Under the new agreement, Hyundai Motor will take over DaimlerChrysler's 50 percent stake in Daimler Hyundai Truck Corp., a joint venture truck engine-making factory in South Korea. The two sides also abandoned their earlier agreement to build a truck-making joint venture.

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DaimlerChrysler and will continue their joint procurement of auto parts, and the German carmaker will provide engines for Hyundai's medium-sized buses, the statement said.

They would require that vehicles protect occupants' heads and lower bodies in two different crash tests. It would be up to the automakers to determine how to comply, the story said.

Estimates are that the change could cost from $121 to $208 a vehicle for airbags, sensors and other components to meet the new guidelines.

NHTSA will take comments on the proposal from automakers and safety advocates, and plans to issue a final rule by the end of 2005, the story said. Automakers then will have four years to meet the new standards.